Review: Asus Chromebit

By William Donaldson on June 12, 2019 • ( 1 Comment )

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been researching various methods to be able to use the essential functions of a PC on a smart TV. As we have multiple sizable TVs in numerous areas of our new building, being able to display specific data on them, as well as facilitate the activities involved in a meeting, is of great importance.

After a few days of studies, I have found that the Asus Chromebit would be ideal since it provides you with Chrome OS in a tiny package. The great thing about Chromebit is its internal performance. Featuring 2GB of memory, 16GB of eMMC storage, dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and both USB and HDMI ports, the Chromebit should be able to display anything I want with ease. Since our company tends to only use Google’s products in meetings, such as Google Docs, Calendar, and Gmail, the Chromebit meets all my requirements.

As you can see in the image below, the Chromebit eliminated the need for a bulky computer, removed the unsightly power cords, as well as each TV’s HDMI cable. The performance of the device was decent, to say the least. While obviously, a PC will perform better, I found the Chomebit more than capable of performing the non-memory intensive tasks it will be subjected to. There is a little sluggishness with opening multiple browsers; however, HD YouTube videos streamed with nothing holding it back.

Installation

Installation couldn’t have been more straightforward. By merely unboxing the device, plugging in the Bluetooth dongle for my mouse and keyboard, attaching the power cord, and then finally inserting the Chromebit into the HDMI slot on the TV, I was quickly greeted with the Chome OS Sign-On screen.

Cons

The only issue I have with the product is the inactivity timer, where the display will turn off after a specified amount of time (around 8 minutes, I believe). The shutoff setting causes problems with the TV in our customer service department, as it continuously displays current call queues and agent activity; however, I found a simple and effective fix for this dilemma by merely installing Keep Awake, a Chrome extension, which lets you toggle the inactivity timer on and off.

Summary

Overall, I couldn’t have been happier with the product. After testing out the first Chomebit on our largest TV in our main conference room, I immediately ordered two more, which arrived today. For more information on the Chromebit, check out their website here.